


Clandestine meetings and longing stares

by apolloxbvcky



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Title from a Taylor Swift Song, honestly it's just lance being a dumbass, i suck at tags sorry, set during season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29341416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apolloxbvcky/pseuds/apolloxbvcky
Summary: Realistically speaking, Lance knows what most people would call this.Spending most of their time together, sleeping with their limbs tangling with the other’s (mostly every night), making out when they’re alone, kissing good luck before they go in their lions, and everything that they have done that involved kissing but had not been completely restricted to just kissing.Realistically speaking, Lance knows most people would call it dating.But no. Keith and him are not dating.Or five times Lance told everyone they were wrong and one time he was wrong.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 176





	Clandestine meetings and longing stares

1- 

Realistically speaking, Lance knows what most people would call  _ this _ . 

Spending most of their time together, sleeping with their limbs tangling with the other’s (mostly every night), making out when they’re alone, kissing good luck before they go in their lions, and everything that they have done that  _ involved _ kissing but had not been completely restricted to  _ just _ kissing. 

Realistically speaking, Lance knows most people would call it  _ dating _ . 

But no. Keith and him are not dating. It’s… weird, to think about him dating Keith. Or Keith dating him. He isn’t sure what’s weirder. 

Because they're Keith and Lance! Rivals, neck to neck! They can’t just… be dating! 

No, no. They are not dating. They are just… enjoying each other’s companies, because they’re hormonal teenagers in the vastness that’s space, and there’s not much to do when they’re not fighting anyway, so they might as well make the most of what they have, right? 

Spending their time together is healthier than Keith spending every waking hour in the training deck, or Lance sulking in his bedroom everytime he was homesick. 

And it’s not like it’s just the two of them all the time anyway! They usually hung around Hunk or Shiro, if they were not too busy. Even Allura joined them from time to time. 

They aren’t even hiding it. Keith has kissed him good night in front of the others several times, and vice versa. They have kissed each other good luck in front of them every time they went on a fight for the several past months. Keith usually falls asleep on his chest when they had movie night, and everyone has seen him carry the sleeping boy to their bedroom more than once. 

They aren’t hiding, obviously, because there is  _ nothing _ to hide. Because it’s just two teenagers making the most of what they have. 

And I mean, it’s not like Lance is fucking blind. He knows what Keith looks like. He might be grumpy and mean when he wants to, but his black hair and dark eyes more than make up for it. 

And his sleeping face. Lance adores looking at his face when he is asleep – probably because it’s the only time of day his eyebrows aren’t frowned or his lips aren’t pouting. 

But no, they are not dating. They definitely are not, he knows this for a fact. There had never been a  _ talk _ . Like, neither has asked the other if he wanted to be his boyfriend, so they can’t be dating. They hadn’t technically had dates. Just, hangouts. 

That’s why it shocks him so much, when Hunk asks him what he’s getting Keith for their six-months anniversary. 

Lance had been holding a juice pooch, drinking from the straw, but he had choked on the juice as soon as Hunk had finished the question, making him cough and spill all the red juice on top of his grey t-shirt.  _ Fucking great _ .

“ _ Coño _ , Hunk.” he says, groaning, standing up to grab at a towel and trying to rub the juice off his t-shirt. “Don’t do that again.” 

“Do what? I just asked you a question, man.” Hunk says, chuckling as he follows Lance with his eyes.

“I know, but… How do you even know that?” he says, vaguely gesturing at him.

“What?” Hunk’s eyebrows frown.

“That it’s our ‘anniversary’.” he says, marking the word with his fingers. 

“Uh, well, I don’t know  _ when _ exactly, but I know it’s been six months since you’ve stopped picking every fight you could with the poor boy.” he sighs, leaning back on the couch. “Six months of peace and quiet.” 

Lance rolls his eyes, going back to sit by his best friend. “Well, I’m not getting him anything; because it’s not our anniversary.”

“Oh, it isn’t? Man, I could’ve sworn…” he starts counting with his fingers, and Lance sighs, batting his hands away.

“No, Hunk, it’s not that. It’s just that… we’re not in a relationship, so.” he shrugs, and grabs the remote that’s on the table. “Hey, what movie do you wanna watch?” 

“Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean you’re not in a relationship? And what’s what you’ve been doing for the last half year!?” Hunk exclaims. Lance looks at him.

“I don’t know, having fun? Jeez, Hunk, it’s not that big of a deal.” 

“But you cuddle all the time! I’ve walked into you two sucking faces like, a hundred times – which, gross, by the way, you should keep that in private, I don’t know how many moans more I can take – and you sleep together every night!” 

“Yeah, but we’re just messing around. It’s not like there’s… we’re not dating, Hunk. That’s all.” 

Hunk looks at him, his left eyebrow raised. “Does Keith know that?” 

“ _ Por dios _ , Hunk. Yes, yes he does.” 

Hunk scoffs, shrugging, and turns towards the TV. “Alright. Play the Altean drama series, I’m invested now that I know who the father is.”

Lance snorts, as he presses down on the play button and lets himself sink on the couch cushions. 

2- 

Seriously, is it  _ so _ hard to understand that Keith and him are  _ not _ dating? Really, they’re just friends. Friends who... do stuff, but whatever! It’s  _ not _ a big deal. They’re big boys, they can take care of themselves! People don’t need to be constantly checking on them.

“Okay, so walk me through it again.” Pidge says, making Lance groan. “For the last six months, you’ve been walking up and down the Castle of Lions holding hands, you’ve let Keith borrow your jacket every movie night, and you’ve been ogling at him every minute of your life-”

“I don’t ogle him, Pidge.” he cuts in. They dismiss him, waving their hand around. 

“But he’s not your boyfriend.” 

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Lance says, as he starts playing with the buttons in one of Pidge’s half done projects. They hit him with their ruler, making Lance yelp. 

“Are you sure?” Pidge asks, pushing their glasses up back to their place.

“Yes, Pidge, I’m sure I don’t have a boyfriend.” he rolls his eyes. 

“You do know we share a mental link because of the lions, right?” Pidge asks again. 

“And?” Lance replies, raising his eyebrows.

Pidge sighs, rubbing their temple. “Let me put it this way: when was the last time you flirted with Allura?” 

“Last night.” Lance answers, confidently. “I told her if she kept wearing that dress Voltron might need a new leg. She rolled her eyes at me, as usual.” 

“Okay. But when was the last time you  _ meant it?”  _ They ask. Lance tilts his head, confused. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Man, you’re so dumb. I can’t stand you, Lance.” They sigh, turning back to their computer. Lance blinks twice before he answers.

“Thank… you?” 

“No, uh-uh. None of that. Leave my lab, immediately. You’re not allowed to come back to this sacred place until you get your head out of your ass, asshead.”

“That’s not a real insult, so joke’s on you!” Lance says as he walks out the lab. 

Keith is walking down the hall right then, and Lance smiles upon the sight. “Keithy!” he greets him, skipping his way to the older boy.

Pidge, still in the lab but able to see the scene through the open door, groans. “Not dating my ass.” They mumble. 

  
  


3- 

Lance has got to give Pidge something. They were right when they said he doesn’t mean the flirting with Allura anymore. But it’s not because of  _ Keith _ . 

It was clear way before they started whatever they are doing that Allura did not like Lance, at all. So he really has toned down the flirting: they’re mostly compliments at this point. 

The good news is, since then, his relationship with Allura is much better. She’s not awkward around him anymore, and when he does flirt with her, she just rolls her eyes with a smile. She replied, once, but Lance started laughing so badly at her poor attempt at human flirting that she has been embarrassed to do it again.

If Lance is honest, he needed this. Needed to have a female friend, after growing up with so many girls in his house. Well, it was only his two sisters and his mother, but still, he was used to being around girls. He liked it, and not in the weird way. 

His new-ish friendship with Allura was something that he had needed, and he thoroughly enjoyed the sporadic moments they spent together just doing mundane things, like she’s not the princess of an extinct planet and he’s not one of the Paladins of Voltron.

Moments like right now, where Lance is teaching Allura how to bake cookies à la Earth. 

He has his arms around her – which would have not been possible, say, three months ago – and they are pouring the flour-like thing Hunk used to bake into the bowl, when Keith walks in. 

“Hey.” He greets, as he walks towards the kitchen counter where Lance and Allura prepare the cookie mix. “What are you guys doing?” he asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“Lance is teaching me how to bake cookies. I have to say, it is really fun. And relaxing, surprisingly!” she replies with a smile. Keith smiles back at her, then turns to look at Lance. 

“You’ve got flour on your nose.” he tells him, and Lance raises his hand to his nose, rubbing the not-actually-flour off. “That’s better.” he smiles, making Lance wink at him. “So Coran says there’s a swap market on a nearby planet, and he’s asked me to fly him there on Red.” he says. “Do any of you want something?” 

“Oh, could you ask Coran to get me some new books? I’ve already read through all of the ones I had from Altea. And I would love to get to learn a new language! Your English was too easy.” she says, shrugging. 

“I could teach you Spanish, then.” Lance says, making Allura smile. 

“I would love that! But I really want some new books.” she tells Keith, who nods.

“Okay. You want something, Lance?” the taller boy smiles, leaning forward on the counter so his face is in front of Keith’s. 

“Surprise me, samurai.” he says, before pressing a soft kiss on Keith’s lips. The older boy scoffs before he smiles.

“Okay, loverboy. I’ll see what I can find.” he winks at him, and turns away to walk through the door. 

“But don’t bring another farm animal! Kaltenecker is way too much work already!” 

“I can’t promise anything!” Keith yells from above his shoulder, and Lance groans. 

Allura chuckles. “You guys are so cute. I didn’t know human relationships were so adorable!”

Lance shakes his head. “It’s not a relationship. We’re not, uh, together.” 

“How come? You guys are always together, and you just kissed him. Coran told me he had to put a new bed on your bedroom so you two could fit. Lance.” She says, placing her hand on his shoulder. He looks at her. “You look at him the same way my father used to look at my mother.” 

Lance smiles, rolling his eyes. “You’re seeing things, Princess. I assure you, Keith and I are just friends… close friends, if you will. Come on, let’s finish these cookies.”

  
  


4- 

When Keith and Coran come back, Lance is at the hangar, cleaning Blue. 

They climb down the lion, Keith’s hands full of bags. Lance immediately turns to look at them, and gets completely distracted by the way Keith’s biceps are flexing, the weight of the bags making a vein pop up. 

Lance’s mouth is suddenly dry. 

“I still think half of this shit is completely unnecessary.” Keith complains. Lance drops the cloth back into the bucket and runs towards Keith, taking some of the bags off his hands. “Thanks.” 

The taller boy nods. 

“Of course we need it!” Coran replies, raising his index finger to the sky. “This is all completely and strictly necessary.” 

“Coran, Allura doesn’t need half the dresses you bought her. She only ever wears the one! And who the hell is wearing that tuxedo? It’s baby sized. We don’t have babies here.” 

“You bought a baby tuxedo?” Lance asks.

“With eight sleeves.” Keith rolls his eyes. 

“We might have one someday! Allura is still fertile, we don’t need to lose hope.” 

Keith groans. “I’m going to go take these bags to Allura’s room. Seventy percent of these bags are for her anyway.” he leans in to press a kiss to Lance’s cheek and starts walking faster, leaving the other two men behind.

“That’s a big temper your boyfriend has, Number Four.” Coran tells Lance. Lance sighs.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” 

“Oh, I thought kisses and sleeping together were evidence of romantic relationships for you humanlings!” 

“Well, not in this case. We’re not in a relationship. So... yeah.” he looks down at the bags on his hands. “So what should I do with these?”

“Take them to the common room! And call the other paladins! We’ll hand out all the gifts now!” 

“Where do you even get the money for all this stuff from?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you!” he replies, marching forward. Lance sighs and follows him.

  
  


5- 

Ever since Lance and Keith started…  _ hanging out _ , Lance has been scared as hell of Shiro. Not because anything has really changed, but because he knows how protective they are of each other. He knows Shiro would do anything to protect the guy he thinks of as family, and he knows if he ever hurt Keith, Shiro would most probably kill him. In the literal way.

Not that he’s going to hurt Keith; not intentionally at least, but… there’s that fear there. 

So when they’re all sitting in the common room, Keith right beside him, leaning in to see what he’s showing him on his pad; and Shiro speaks up, he freezes. He feels all the blood leaving his face and his hands clutch the pad with all his life force. 

“Keith, is that a hickey?” the older paladin asks, and Keith immediately sits up and covers his neck with his jacket.

“Uh… it’s a bruise. From the battle the other day. You know, Galra are… ruthless.”

“Lance, since when are you Galra?” Pidge asks, making the Cuban boy look at them with daggers in his eyes.

Shiro sighs, shaking his head. “Keith, you’re an adult. I don’t have to tell you what to do. But…” he looks at Lance, raising his eyebrows. “You guys have to be careful, okay?”

Pidge breaks out laughing, and Keith and Lance groan and turn red almost at the same time.

“Shiro.” Keith says through clenched teeth. “I don’t need you to give me the talk. Especially not  _ here _ .”

“I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe this is my life. Hunk, are you recording this?” 

“Uh, no? Should I?”

“No!” Lance yells at them. “Can we… let’s move on, this didn’t happen.” he stands up, offering Keith his hand. “Let’s go.” 

Keith, reluctantly, takes his hand and stands up too. 

“Oh, come on! There’s no one better than me for this! I’m the only one here who has had a boyfriend before!” 

Lance is about to turn to reply to him, but Keith pulls at his hand, dragging him out of the room.

As soon as they’re in the halls, Keith turns to look at him. “Is it really that obvious?” he says, moving his head so Lance can see his neck. 

“Yeah.” he says, pressing a kiss on the purple skin, making him squirm. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay. Wanna make me a new one?” 

Lance bites down on his lip and nods. “Yeah. Let’s go.” 

+1-

Keith and Lance are on Lance’s bed now. Well. Maybe it’s their bed now, since Keith hasn’t slept on his own for months, and Coran got them a new, bigger one just so they could fit. 

But Keith has never called it their own, and neither has Lance. And maybe, just maybe, he is too scared to say it first. To make it real.

“Hey.” Keith says. “Keep going.” Lance looks down at him, splayed on his chest, his unruly hair tickling his chin, and notices he has stopped running his hands up and down his back.

“Sorry.” he says, and he goes back to run featherlight fingertips down the boy in his arms. 

“What were you thinking about?” he mutters. Lance sighs.

“You know we’ve been doing this for six months?” 

“Yes.” Lance doesn’t answer. Keith raises his head to look at him. “What’s wrong, Lance?” 

“I just… it’s a long time.” Keith nods, pressing his chin on Lance’s chest. “It’s a long time and we still haven’t… we’re nothing, technically.” 

“I don’t know what you mean by that, sweetheart.” Keith frowns.

“Keith, are we… together? Like, together, together? Exclusively?”

“Lance, are you asking me if we’re dating six months into our relationship?”

“So it’s a relationship?” Keith laughs.

“You weren’t aware of that?” 

“No! We never agreed on it! And I’ve been telling everybody otherwise for two weeks!” he groans. “I’m such an asshole. I’m sorry.”

Keith smiles, pressing a kiss to Lance’s jaw. “It’s okay. Now all you just need to do is give me a great anniversary present.” 

“Do I?”

“Do you want me to break up with you three minutes in?”

“Wha- Keith! Of course not!”

Keith chuckles, and he leans closer to press a kiss to the taller boy’s lips. 

“I got you a present, though.” he whispers. Lance raises his eyebrows.

“You did?”

“You asked me to, didn’t you?” Lance nods, and whines at the loss of Keith’s warmth when he stands up to grab his jacket from the hang behind the door. 

He comes back to the bed, a small velvet box on his hands. 

“Are you proposing to me? We’re a bit young, aren’t we?” Lance says. Keith shoves his shoulder. 

“Am not.” he smiles softly. “Yet.” Lance’s heart starts pounding and he feels the blush appearing on his cheeks and nose. He cups Keith’s face on his hands and pulls him closer to kiss him. 

“I really want to keep kissing you right now.” Lance whispers. “But honestly, I want to see my present.”

Keith snorts. “Okay.” he lays down besides Lance, and places the box up in the air between them too. 

He opens it to reveal two silver rings. Lance takes one of them between his fingers to examine it. It glistens under the room’s lights, and Lance twists it to see the inside is red. 

“The other one is blue on the inside.” Keith says. “They’re for aliens, so they’re a little big for us, but I think they’ll fit if we wear it on our thumbs.” He looks at him. “Do you like them? I figured we can wear each other’s colors, so it’ll mean something.”

“I love them, Keith.” he smiles at the other boy. “This is the best gift I’ve ever been given. Thank you.” he kisses Keith’s nose, and puts the red ring on. He grabs the other one. “May I?” Keith nods.

Taking Keith’s hand between his, he slips the blue ring on and presses a kiss to the back of the hand. 

“Lance?” Keith whispers. Lance stares at him, and the raven haired smiles. “This might feel rushed, since you didn’t know we were dating until like ten minutes ago, but… I love you.”

And it doesn’t feel rushed. In fact, it makes sense. Everything falls into place the moment those words leave Keith’s lips, and Lance understands his feelings as easily as they had settled on his chest, many weeks ago. 

He leans in, pressing their foreheads together. “Yeah. I love you too.” 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this short thing! 
> 
> if you like my works and would like to support me, you can [buy me a coffee](https://ko-fi.com/marvelousmers)
> 
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